21–30 of 87 posts
Mainly because calls to action are often about whipping up passion about an issue, without often doing the work to identify the actions that would actually be productive.
The problem is hundreds of years old, Tolstoy wrote about it, he was an advocate for Georgism, and there’s also the board game monopoly. Has anyone succeeded anywhere at any time at making housing affordable for the plebs?
So to answer your question, there was a brief period in American history for about 50 years where housing was affordable (1945-1995) then shit just went sideways. But it required massive investment from the government (freeways & GI bill). To return to this would require massive, complicated legislation; or some simple push that collapses the housing market as an investment strategy. Maybe higher interest rates. Maybe killing the mortgage deduction. Maybe an inheritance tax with teeth.
The social movement you want is called marxism - a highly efficient framework to use a divide a society to your benefit. In your case, it's the divide between those who have homes and those who don't.
More people want to live more in cities (due to access to society’s benefits and jobs) then housing prices will rise. This seems normal to me? I.e more people means more competition means price will rise.
If someone wants cheap house, they can just move far to the suburbs and work there or commute to the city.
Am I mistaken to think that there is no inherent problem in rising house prices? It is just the way it is and it happens everywhere even in 3rd world countries.
The actual answer is: do nothing at all. Simply sit back and wait for one year. I promise you, the problem will solve itself.
It's called a Housing Market Bubble, and the thing about bubbles is, they pop--taking down millions of smug, clueless 'investors' with them. Happens on a regular cycle, like clockwork. Nobody ever learns anything.
This bubble is a particularly nasty one that will wipe out tons of idiots, both the deserving and nondeserving kind, sadly.
Oh, I did forget one small preparation you can make: load up on popcorn. Lots of popcorn.
This is the final, definitive answer. Print it and hang it on your fridge.
Sincerely, your worthless (according to HN) hillbilly friend in Alabama.
Whatever you do, don't ever fucking give up. Give them hell.
https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-welfare/home-owne...
There’s a very similar group to yours in Canada called /r/canadahousing. They made a lot of noise, but in the end were a flash in the pan movement that didn’t change anything.
Why? Because in Canada the vast majority of people own their homes. What you call a crisis was actually also massive middle class surge in wealth.
Basically if you want change here, you must address housing challenges in a way that doesn’t impact middle-class wealth.